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Eggs without cage. Chickens in freedom Cows fed on the grass. Meat eaters who want to allay their fears about the ethical and environmental effects of their eating habits seem to have more options than ever before for humane carnivorism. And now, the owner of a lobster pound in Maine gives his customers the chance to consume lobsters that have been sedated with marijuana before being cooked.
According to a report from Mount Desert Islander, Charlotte Gill, owner of Charlotte's legendary "Lobster Pound" in Southwest Harbor, Maine, gets lobsters raised and boiled alive. "I'm sorry that when lobsters arrive here, there's no exit strategy," Gill said, who owns a medical marijuana license issued by the state. "It's a unique place and you can do unique things, but at the expense of that little creature. I've really tried to understand how to make it feel better. "
His solution: seduce lobsters by blowing grass smoke into their pens. (It is not known whether Gill blew smoke into the tank or used any device, but she told the Islanders that she was planning to use an air mattress pump to infuse marijuana water. in the tank.) Customers who worry about levels of THC in their food can still order lobsters that are traditionally prepared – steamed or boiled live – but Gill said that he was "Literally impossible" to inject THC into lobsters. "I do not sell edible products," she said – just a more humane way of killing lobsters.
It's almost impossible to know if the hot cooking of a lobster enclosure has had an effect on its last moments on this earth. Gill's attempts for a humane lobster indicate a broader trend: Cruelty-conscious consumers want ethical alternatives to traditional meat and seafood, even though science is not quite there to prove it .
Do sedative lobsters with grass – or with anything else – really do something?
Jennifer Mather, a professor of psychology at the University of Lethbridge, specializing in the behavior of cephalopod molluscs, said the jury was still unaware of the psychological and physiological effects of marijuana on lobsters.
"We have no idea what cannabis does. Nobody knows either if it is deposited in the flesh, "Mather told Vox. "It would be wonderful if someone was doing an experiment."
Gill experimented with a unique lobster, which she called Roscoe. She placed the crustacean in an enclosure with a few inches of water at the bottom for a few minutes, blew smoke into the cage, and then followed Roscoe's behavior for three weeks, reported Mount Desert Islander. According to Gill, the lobster stopped using its claws as weapons after being exposed to marijuana smoke – but Mather warned that this did not necessarily mean he was less anxious.
According to Mather, those who study the effects of sedatives on lobsters are "worried about whether anesthetics can cause motor impairment, but not brain impairment." In other words, able to answer it.
"Now that it's cruel to kill a lobster by boiling it, that's certainly another question," Mather added. "It's certainly true that spilling a lobster into boiling water is likely to cause suffering, but it does not cause suffering very long."
The quickest and most painless way to kill a lobster, Gill explains, is to destroy his brain. "Julia Child, in one of her cookbooks, explained how to kill a lobster before cooking it. It's actually quite simple: you have to know where [the brain] is, and you have to cut somehow through the shell with a pickaxe or a small knife and blow back and forth. "
But for seafood lovers who are already afraid of causing undue pain to lobsters, destroying their brains may seem less acceptable than boiling them alive.
The cruelty without cruelty
The uncertainty surrounding the most humane way of killing lobsters indicates a bigger problem in the ethical consumption of food. Consumers are increasingly turning to humane alternatives to farmed meat and fish from unethical sources, but experts are still wondering what type of consumption is the least harmful.
After all, grass-fed cows can lead a less miserable life than their confined brothers in their factory, but they also produce more methane. Even almond milk, once touted as a humane alternative to dairy products, can have disastrous effects on the environment because of the water needed for its production.
Second, consumers are often attracted to humane labels without knowing what they are buying. The New York Times compared dietary requirements to be considered human certified, American Humane certified, or animal welfare, and found that both old labels still allowed chickens to be cut and continued access to pasture. According to the animal welfare advocates the Times has mentioned, meat companies can easily qualify for the status of American Humane Certified since the American Humane Association has lower standards than other groups .
There is also little surveillance, according to the Times. Dena Jones, director of the animal welfare program at the Animal Welfare Institute, told the Times that the process was "just a paperwork review".
"A producer has to fill out a very simple form, a page, two sides, and submit information to support," Jones said.
Meat consumption is rising independently
Even if the average person does not know what the endorsement of human well-being or certified animal welfare actually means, labels can be enough to address their ethical concerns.
After a 19% drop in beef consumption between 2005 and 2014, overall meat consumption has exploded in the United States in recent years. A report released in January by the US Department of Agriculture revealed that US meat production was at record levels. The average American should consume 222.2 pounds of red meat and poultry this year, making 2018 the most important year for meat consumption since 2004.
The increase in animal protein is likely due to a combination of high supply, low prices and low carb diets, as well as the belief that meat suppliers are adopting ways more humane to raise and kill livestock. In fact, a 2017 Nielsen report revealed that more than 30% of Americans were willing to pay more for locally produced and ethically produced meat. (World consumption of seafood has also reached record levels despite fears of overfishing.)
But for animal welfare advocates, there is no ethical way to raise livestock or catch lobster.
Jeff Sebo, an assistant professor of environmental studies at New York University, suggested that the most ethical route was to reduce overall consumption of seafood and promote plant-based foods.
"There is no ethical way to catch lobster or any other animal for mass consumption," he told Vox in an email. "When we fish for mass consumption, we intentionally harm the animals we catch, we harm the animals we accidentally catch and we harm the environment by damaging the seabed, depleting aquatic populations and more. . To cope with these harms, we must eat plant-based foods and promote social, political, and economic changes that make herbal foods more accessible to people.
And, says Sebo, there is no evidence that getting high lobsters reduces the pain they feel when they are killed. "In general, if we are unsure of how lobsters are boiled or cooked alive," he said, "we must err on the side of caution, not for the sake of human convenience."
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